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tha-ap.277 Thera Apadana

Ekañjaliya

I gave an open dwelling place
to the Recluse, the Greatest Sage,
dwelling in the shade of a fig
on a well-prepared mat of leaves.

Raising my hands pressed together,
I spread out a mat of flowers
for Tissa, the Best of Bipeds,
Lord of the World, the Neutral One.

In the ninety-two aeons since
I fashioned that mat of flowers,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of giving a mat.

In the fourteenth aeon ago
I was a ruler of people,
a wheel-turning king with great strength,
known as Eka-añjalika.

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Ekañjaliya Thera spoke these verses.

The legend of Ekañjaliya Thera is finished.

- Translator: Jonathan S. Walters

- Editor: Ayya Vimala